Beyond the Breach #2

Beyond the Breach #2

Aftershock Comics 2021

Written by Ed Brisson

Illustrated by Damian Couceiro

Coloured by Patricio Delpheche

Lettered by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou

The Breach has hit California. Thousands of interdimensional creatures now trapped in our world have begun to wreak havoc, leaving a trail of bodies up and down the coast. Vanessa is fighting to save those in her care when she encounters a strange man and his traveling companion. A man who may hold the secret to what the Breach is and how it can be stopped. But is he a friend or foe? Is he here to help her…or kill her?

I like what Ed is doing with this story. How we see the characters introduced and how the story moves through the pages at such a clip is pretty amazing to see. While we are no closer to really learning how and why the Breach has occurred we do get to meet someone with some rudimentary knowledge of what is occurring and that is Samuel who rescues Vanessa and Dougie after the events that closed out last issue. I love the sheer fact that this is just a mover and a shaker of a story and that you can see how this is a four to five issue arc and whether it comes to a conclusion or simply just sets up the next arc remains to be seen.

I am really rather enjoying the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter. This is done so that we see them being fleshed out into people who are familiar or at least relatable to. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story, the twists & turns along the way keeping us on our toes.

I appreciate the way that we see this being structured as well as how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. These layers contain the characterisation, the plot twists & revelations which add some great depth, dimension and complexity to the story. The way that we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is achieved exceedingly well.

The interiors here are phenomenal and how we see the creativity and imagination on display throughout the book is magnificent. The linework is exceptional and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the detail work throughout is rendered exceedingly well. The way that we see backgrounds is pretty consistent and while we could use more of them, what we do see expands and enhances the moments beautifully. They also work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The colour work is brilliantly rendered and how we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show an amazing eye for how colour works.

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I love the concept here and with the cliffhanger ending it raises the interest and intrigue factors exponentially. There is a lot of craziness going on here with some themes that are disappointingly familiar, shooting first asking questions later is typical of human nature, and some that are just unique to this story and regardless of where things fall in this range we’re constantly thrilled with what we see. The writing is strong and interesting the characterisation is spot on and the interiors are creative and unique all of which leave us wanting to see more.